Forget Android and iOS, U.S. consumers want Windows tablets

U.S. consumers want a tablet powered by Microsoft’s Windows Operating system, not iOS, according to new research published by Boston Consulting Group. The firm found 42% of U.S. consumers would prefer a Windows-powered tablet, while just 27% would prefer iOS on a tablet. Fewer consumers would prefer Android (20%), QNX (9%) and HP’s now deceased webOS (3%). The findings were not just limited to the United States, either. BCG found that 44% of Chinese customers prefer Windows on a tablet to iOS (34%). AllThingsD notes that the company’s findings match those published recently by Forrester Research, which concluded its results were an indication of the popularity of Microsoft’s Windows brand among consumers. Additionally, RBC Capital Markets expects Microsoft’s Windows 8 platform to own 15% of the tablet market by 2014. Microsoft showed off a batch of its first Windows 8 powered notebooks, PCs and tablets in September, but the final products are not expected to hit retail shelves until late next year.